Photos: NASA Discovers Real-Life 'Tatooine' Planet With 2 Suns

By SPACE.com Staff |
January 9, 2012 08:04am ET

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Twin Sun Planet Kepler 35b

Credit: Lynette Cook

An artist's illustration of Kepler-35 b, a Saturn-size planet around a pair of sun-size stars, as envisioned by artist Lynette Cook. The discovery of Kepler-35b and another twin sun planet, Kepler-34 b, was announced Jan. 11, 2012 and represent a new class of circumbinary planets.

Twin Sun Planet Kepler 35b: Mark Garlick

Credit: Mark A. Garlick

An artist's illustration of Kepler-35 b, a Saturn-size planet around a pair of sun-size stars, as envisioned by artist Mark A. Garlick. The discovery of Kepler-35b and another twin sun planet, Kepler-34 b, was announced Jan. 11, 2012 and represent a new class of circumbinary planets.

Twin Sun Planet Kepler 35b: Lior Taylor

Credit: Lior Taylor

An artist's illustration of Kepler-35 b, a Saturn-size planet around a pair of sun-size stars, as envisioned by artist Lior Taylor. The discovery of Kepler-35b and another twin sun planet, Kepler-34 b, was announced Jan. 11, 2012 and represent a new class of circumbinary planets.

Planet Orbiting Two Suns

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This artist's concept illustrates Kepler-16b, the first planet known to definitively orbit two stars -- a real-life Tatooine, from 'Star Wars.' The planet, which can be seen in the foreground, was discovered by NASA's Kepler mission.

Real-Life Tatooine Planet

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered a world where two suns set over the horizon instead of just one. The planet, called Kepler-16b, is not thought to be habitable. It is a cold world, with a gaseous surface, and it circles two stars, just like "Star Wars" Tatooine.

Kepler-16 System, Compared to Our Inner Solar System

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle

This artist's concept illustrates the Kepler-16 system (white) from an overhead view, showing its planet Kepler-16b and the eccentric orbits of the two stars it circles (labeled A and B). For reference, the orbits of our own solar system's planets Mercury and Earth are shown in blue.

Binary Sunset on Tatooine

Credit: Twentieth Century Fox/LucasFilm

Film still from 'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope' showing the sunset on the planet Tatooine.

Hunting Alien Earths: Kepler Stares At Stars

Credit: NASA

NASA's Kepler mission is searching for Earth-like planets by looking for them to cross the face of alien stars.

Kepler's Field of View Superimposed on the Night Sky

Credit: Carter Roberts

This is Kepler's field of view superimposed on the night sky.

Kepler Field of View Star Chart

Credit: Software Bisque

This star chart illustrates the large patch of sky that NASA's Kepler mission will stare at for the duration of its three-and-a-half-year lifetime. The planet hunter's full field of view occupies 100 square degrees of our Milky Way galaxy, in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra.

Kepler Transiting Planet Candidates

Credit: Jason Rowe/ NASA Ames Research Center/ SETI Institute

A visible graphic of the 1,235 planets Kepler announced last winter. Over 350 planets ranked as "Earth size" or "Super Earths."

Kepler Planets Diagram

Credit: NASA/Kepler Mission/Wendy Stenzel

Comparative sizes of planets discovered by Kepler. Jupiter, Neptune and Earth are shown for comparison as well. "RE" in the diagram means size relative to Earth or RE = Radius of the planet in Earth radii.

Kepler Planets Temperatures and Sizes Chart

Credit: NASA/Ames, W. Stenzel

Chart showing temperatures and relative sizes of the Kepler planets that have been discovered.

Kepler Spacecraft to Hunt Earth-Like Worlds

Credit: NASA.

An artist's interpretation of the Kepler observatory in space.

Kepler planets illustration

Credit: Nature

An artist's illustration of the extrasolar planets discovered around the star Kepler 11 by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope.

Multiple Sunsets Like Tatooine

Credit: NASA/JPL's Planetquest/Caltech

Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine in Star Wars had two suns, but that’s paltry compared to a Jupiter-like planet 149 light-years from Earth. This planet has three suns, with the main star similar in mass to our own sun. The triple-star system is known as HD 188753. Like Tatooine, the planet there is likely pretty hot – it orbits very close to the main star, completing one orbit every 3.5 days.

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Twin Sun Planet Kepler 35b

Credit: Lynette Cook

An artist's illustration of Kepler-35 b, a Saturn-size planet around a pair of sun-size stars, as envisioned by artist Lynette Cook. The discovery of Kepler-35b and another twin sun planet, Kepler-34 b, was announced Jan. 11, 2012 and represent a new class of circumbinary planets.

Twin Sun Planet Kepler 35b: Mark Garlick

Credit: Mark A. Garlick

An artist's illustration of Kepler-35 b, a Saturn-size planet around a pair of sun-size stars, as envisioned by artist Mark A. Garlick. The discovery of Kepler-35b and another twin sun planet, Kepler-34 b, was announced Jan. 11, 2012 and represent a new class of circumbinary planets.

Twin Sun Planet Kepler 35b: Lior Taylor

Credit: Lior Taylor

An artist's illustration of Kepler-35 b, a Saturn-size planet around a pair of sun-size stars, as envisioned by artist Lior Taylor. The discovery of Kepler-35b and another twin sun planet, Kepler-34 b, was announced Jan. 11, 2012 and represent a new class of circumbinary planets.

Planet Orbiting Two Suns

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This artist's concept illustrates Kepler-16b, the first planet known to definitively orbit two stars -- a real-life Tatooine, from 'Star Wars.' The planet, which can be seen in the foreground, was discovered by NASA's Kepler mission.

Real-Life Tatooine Planet

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered a world where two suns set over the horizon instead of just one. The planet, called Kepler-16b, is not thought to be habitable. It is a cold world, with a gaseous surface, and it circles two stars, just like "Star Wars" Tatooine.

Kepler-16 System, Compared to Our Inner Solar System

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle

This artist's concept illustrates the Kepler-16 system (white) from an overhead view, showing its planet Kepler-16b and the eccentric orbits of the two stars it circles (labeled A and B). For reference, the orbits of our own solar system's planets Mercury and Earth are shown in blue.

Binary Sunset on Tatooine

Credit: Twentieth Century Fox/LucasFilm

Film still from 'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope' showing the sunset on the planet Tatooine.

Hunting Alien Earths: Kepler Stares At Stars

Credit: NASA

NASA's Kepler mission is searching for Earth-like planets by looking for them to cross the face of alien stars.

Kepler's Field of View Superimposed on the Night Sky

Credit: Carter Roberts

This is Kepler's field of view superimposed on the night sky.

Kepler Field of View Star Chart

Credit: Software Bisque

This star chart illustrates the large patch of sky that NASA's Kepler mission will stare at for the duration of its three-and-a-half-year lifetime. The planet hunter's full field of view occupies 100 square degrees of our Milky Way galaxy, in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra.

Kepler Transiting Planet Candidates

Credit: Jason Rowe/ NASA Ames Research Center/ SETI Institute

A visible graphic of the 1,235 planets Kepler announced last winter. Over 350 planets ranked as "Earth size" or "Super Earths."

Kepler Planets Diagram

Credit: NASA/Kepler Mission/Wendy Stenzel

Comparative sizes of planets discovered by Kepler. Jupiter, Neptune and Earth are shown for comparison as well. "RE" in the diagram means size relative to Earth or RE = Radius of the planet in Earth radii.

Kepler Planets Temperatures and Sizes Chart

Credit: NASA/Ames, W. Stenzel

Chart showing temperatures and relative sizes of the Kepler planets that have been discovered.

Kepler Spacecraft to Hunt Earth-Like Worlds

Credit: NASA.

An artist's interpretation of the Kepler observatory in space.

Kepler planets illustration

Credit: Nature

An artist's illustration of the extrasolar planets discovered around the star Kepler 11 by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope.

Multiple Sunsets Like Tatooine

Credit: NASA/JPL's Planetquest/Caltech

Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine in Star Wars had two suns, but that’s paltry compared to a Jupiter-like planet 149 light-years from Earth. This planet has three suns, with the main star similar in mass to our own sun. The triple-star system is known as HD 188753. Like Tatooine, the planet there is likely pretty hot – it orbits very close to the main star, completing one orbit every 3.5 days.